Reply to Park Police behavior during GW Pkwy traffic stop

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[quote=Anonymous]I was driving on the GW Parkway earlier this afternoon and was pulled over by a very rude and abrasive US Park Policeman
for driving too slowly in the left lane. When I explained to him that I was driving the posted speed limit, he said he never
mentioned my speed because that wasn't the issue. He said the left lane was reserved for passing only, and I had no business
just tolling along so slowly when I clearly saw that there was a police vehicle behind me (I didn't notice the SUV behind me 
was a police vehicle until he stopped me as he didn't have sirens on before that). I asked if I'd broken any laws and he said that 
by driving in the left lane and impeding traffic flow (by driving the speed limit of 50mph), I definitely broke the law :shock: !

When I explained that I was unaware of the law, and that it seemed as if many other drivers were too (based on the typical 
traffic pattern I see on the parkway), he insisted that wasn't the case. He said that the left lane is reserved for "passing only" 
in all 50 states and I needed to look up the law when I got home so I could be a more informed driver. According to him, most 
drivers know that the left lane is off limits unless trying to pass, but this clearly wasn't apparent even during the traffic stop as 
many cars were traveling (not just passing) in the left lane. When I pointed that out to him, he got really irritated and said the 
flow of traffic was just diverted at the moment because motorist were reacting to the sirens on his SUV. He also said the traffic 
stop didn't have to get ugly unless I wanted it to, and that he was only going to issue me a warning, but I needed to understand 
that it was within his authority to give me an actual citation if he wanted to. I explained to him that I had just suffered the loss 
of my dad and didn't want to debate with him...I told him that if he felt he needed to issue me a ticket, to do so, so that I could 
be on my way. He ultimately [b]did not[/b] issue a ticket, but it's now several hours later and the episode still isn't sitting well with me.

Has anyone else had a similar experience with US Park Police, particularly on the GW Parkway? I'm so bothered by this that I
really want to file a complaint. I didn't get the officers name or badge number, but because he pulled over another driver soon 
after he stopped me, I was able to get a picture of the license plate of the SUV he was driving. I noticed that he was tailgating 
the other driver prior to pulling him over, so I'm guessing he stopped him for the same thing :roll: .[/quote]

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